Say its name out loud

Craving. One plain word. Say it, even in a whisper. This is a craving, and it passes. Something shifts the second you put a label on a feeling. The fog thins. What felt like all of you is suddenly one thing with a name.

An unknown number lights up your phone and your stomach drops. Then the name appears, and it's just a call. Cravings work best as unknown callers. This one's been talking in your voice, saying "I want a cigarette." The cigarette has been signing your name to its orders. Named, it's something you're watching, not something you are.

Go one step further and say it to God. This is a craving. Stay close. A craving's favorite weapon is secrecy, that feeling that it's just between you and it. You just told the One who's on your side.

Give it one minute under its real name. Watch it stop pretending to be you. It's a feeling with a label now, and feelings move through. It's leaving by the same door it came in. Cravings visit. You live here.